The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 507 - 505 Don’t Be Foolish

Chapter 507: Chapter 505 Don’t Be Foolish

Showing such disrespect to Lady Lin, her face turned a shade of bluish-white, unable to utter a word for a long time.

Jinhua and Jinpan, along with their small hands unable to hold so much Copper Coin, had no choice but to scoop them up with their clothing and use Jinshao, looking left and right, unsure for a moment whether to give the money to their mother or keep it for themselves.

It was Jinhua who knew better, she hesitated before handing the money to Lady Jiang, followed by Jinpan and Jinshao, who did the same.

Lady Jiang took the money and patted the children’s heads, "Good children."

In contrast, Lady Lin’s face lost all its luster. Her own husband and children were all dismissive of her, not even letting her hold the money—what was the point?

Suddenly, her eyes reddened, and she covered her face, ready to burst into tears.

Old Granny Zhang had yet to speak when Wang Laozhu knocked on the edge of the kang bed frame and said, "On such a happy day, what are you wailing for? Eldest Brother, take care of your wife!"

In a peasant family, it’s the mother-in-law’s place to discipline the daughter-in-law; the father-in-law seldom speaks out.

Now that Wang Laozhu had personally spoken, Lady Lin was so frightened that she didn’t dare to cry, just stood there foolishly.

Wang Yongfu too felt shame hanging over his head. Today was such a joyous occasion, with everyone happily sharing Silver and Copper Coin, yet his wife was so lacking in tact.

He furrowed his brow, grabbed Lady Lin, and dragged her out.

Although Wang Laozhu was no longer the head of the household, he was still an elder, and since he had made his displeasure so clear, nobody dared to say a word for a while.

Especially Lady Jiang, who couldn’t help but shiver as she watched Lady Lin being dragged away, instinctively shrinking and wishing she could hide in a corner.

Wang Yongzhu, on the other hand, had collected all the silver notes with Old Granny Zhang and recorded every expenditure in the book.

In the meantime, Wang Laozhu had already started discussing the new house with Wang Yonggui, Wang Yongping, and Song Chongjin.

Before long, Wang Yongfu joined in as the men gathered around to talk, while Lady Jiang went off to cook.

Old Granny Zhang found an opportunity and pulled Wang Yongzhu aside into her room, "My girl, today when you were settling accounts with Boss Zhang, those Yellow Pine Mushrooms—"

Wang Yongzhu flashed Old Granny Zhang a smile, ushered her onto the kang bed, pulled out a small box, and handed it to her, signaling her to open it.

Old Granny Zhang opened the box, and though she didn’t know many characters, she still recognized the words "One hundred taels" on the silver notes; her eyes nearly popped out in astonishment.

Especially when she counted them and found there were five? Wasn’t that five hundred taels?

Old Granny Zhang’s voice shook with excitement, "This, this all is?"

Wang Yongzhu nodded.

Old Granny Zhang cried out, clutching at her chest, thanking all the gods and deities, not forgetting the Kitchen God, one after another.

It took a while for her to regain her composure, then suddenly something occurred to her and her expression changed. She grabbed Wang Yongzhu’s hand, "Why did Boss Zhang give you so much Silver? There mustn’t be something wrong, right? My girl, listen to me, we must not take money that shouldn’t be taken! We are managing just fine these days, we can’t agree to requests that shouldn’t be agreed upon! Song Chongjin may seem cold, but he’s warm-hearted inside, you must not—"

"Although silver is good, a good son-in-law is much harder to come by, my girl, don’t be foolish!"

Wang Yongzhu was initially stunned but then understood, and said with a bittersweet laugh, "Mom, what are you thinking about? This silver is just from the Yellow Pine Mushrooms."

"I don’t believe it, those Yellow Pine Mushrooms aren’t made of gold, how could they be worth so much silver?" Old Granny Zhang scowled.

"Mom, it’s true, the Yellow Pine Mushrooms I harvested this time were right on time, which helped Boss Zhang a great deal. He gave me more as a thank you. Besides, Yellow Pine Mushrooms are one price here, but in the Capital City, they are worth more than ten times as much." Wang Yongzhu explained.

"That makes more sense! But this silver still seems too much. My girl, you’re young and you don’t know that there’s no such thing as a free lunch falling from the sky! Boss Zhang is a businessman, and which one doesn’t want to make money? Besides, the prices in the Capital City are for the Capital City, they’re irrelevant to us. I always feel that Boss Zhang giving so much silver can’t be a good thing. These sly old men from the city are very cunning! Us peasants are straightforward, but we can’t outsmart them. We have to be wary of them. I just don’t feel safe. You can’t grow Yellow Pine Mushrooms next year, as soon as spring starts, I’ll have people from our family go up the mountains to look for them, and if we really can’t find them, we’re even willing to buy them from others." Old Granny Zhang still felt uneasy and, after much thought, advised.

Wang Yongzhu hadn’t expected Old Granny Zhang to think of so much and admired her in her heart, agreeing very straightforwardly, "Mom, don’t worry! I feel the same way, so when Boss Zhang mentioned wanting us to supply more Yellow Pine Mushrooms next year, I rejected him on the spot."

"That’s good, that’s good! In the future, let Laosan and Laosi deal with Boss Zhang, or even Chongjin if need be. You should interact less with him. I’ve heard that those businessmen from the city, with a bit of money and even with white hair, are still going to the countryside to deceive young girls with money to become their concubines! My girl is so pretty, who knows if those old scoundrels have crooked ideas! With this silver, plus the dividends from Shopkeeper Wu’s place, that should be enough! Just live comfortably and enjoy life at home!" Old Granny Zhang, after all, had lived a long time and knew that being too pretty or exceptional, especially in a peasant family like theirs, was not necessarily a good thing.

Wang Yongzhu also felt that as long as the Wang Family’s business stayed on track, without any mishaps, the modest wealth of the family could be ensured for years to come.

Building a new house, Wang Yongping getting married, the Wang family’s days, as long as they didn’t do anything foolish, would be second to none in Shiqiao Town.

After improving the living conditions of the Wang Family, what was her next task?

Everything was still unknown.

※※※

The Wang Family was not known for dragging their feet on matters. The previous evening, they had settled on starting the construction of the house.

The next day, the whole family started to get busy.

Wang Laozhu had already sought a Feng Shui master to select an auspicious day for the construction, which was to begin three days later, a day suitable for breaking ground.

As for how the yard should be built, in the village, the villagers themselves usually built the houses, commonly with a few main rooms and side rooms on a rather casual basis.

You just had to find a familiar bricklayer and plasterer.

But the big compound that the Wang Family intended to build this time was beyond the capabilities of the village bricklayers.

As for hiring someone else, there really wasn’t anyone within ten miles who could do it.

Who in the countryside could afford to build such a large house?

Wang Laozhu became worried at once.

It was Song Chongjin who took the initiative to step forward, saying he knew a bricklayer in the town who had built houses for many townspeople.

Even the courtyard houses of Benefactor Wu and Wu Zhongbao were handled by this bricklayer.

Not only was the bricklayer skilled, but he could also draw blueprints. As long as you told him your requirements, he could roughly sketch out the house with a pen, specifying where the doors would be, the orientation of the rooms, the size of the doors and windows, as well as the courtyard dimensions, all clearly marked out.